THE CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, 1894—95. 590 of this RedCross work to Colonel Taylor, who hasbeenspecially sent out bytheBritish Foreign Office to report on the Japanese system ofambulance, he told me that what he saw in the Shui-shih Valley was quite equal to anything he had ever witnessedunder similar conditions."

of the ravine (near the artillery position). When the first shots were fired the RedCross flag was run up,and by its side was the national flag of Japan. The doctors were already preparingfor casualties. About that time a sharp fusillade was going on on our right flank. The only decent tactics the Chinese showed in this miserable businesswas an attempt at a flanking movement, started too late on our attack upon the Table Mountain. For the moment it was utter confusion. The Chinese from the small forts on the Port Arthur inlet were firing shellafter shellat the fort that had already been occupied, but these missed and burst in the vicinity of the Red Cross hamlet, and a tremendous fusillade was going on in the valley on the right of us. Nogi,with two regiments, was sent out to turn this flanking movement of the Chinese, and the mountain battery which had done such executioninthe takingofTable Mountain washurried down from the heights, thundering through the ravine down to the valley on our right to assist Nogi's column.

WhenNogi'sbrigadehadcleared the northern end of the Table Mountain of the last of the Chinese, there was a brief lull in the engagement. The fleet now began to fire longranging shots at the seaward forts, and on the land Yamaji's batteries and the siege train concentrated their fire onthe fort on Sung-shushan (Pine Tree Hill), the mountain-gunsbeing taken up to the top of the Table Mountain to assist in the bombardment. The Chinese abandoned the fort under this heavy artillery fire, after lighting a fuse near the magazine, in order to blow the work up. This occurred a little after eleven, while the Japanese infantry were movingto the attack of the northridge.

General Hasegawawas, meanwhile,advancing across the valley in front of these forts and the Cock's Comb. He had only his mountain batteries with him,but was assisted by the fire of Yamaji's guns, which were now enfilading the ridge from the first artillery position, and dropping shells on to it from the capturedTable Mountain. Hasegawa's infantry crossed the valley below the ridge in successive lines of skirmishers, being exposed to a heavy fire as they traversedthe open ground,and suffering a good dealof loss. As they reached the base of the ridge they were able to get coverunder its steep sides. Here they massedand prepared for the assault. Above them the rocky hillsides rose abruptly to the forts, which stand at a height of about 300 feet above the level of the valley.

" The little Red Cross hamlet wasbeginning to fillup with casualties. The menwerebrought down on stretchers, dripping with their blood, and laid on straw in front of the small gardens of the houses. Within oneof the gardens were tables already erected, at which the doctors were busily at work. In my considerable experience of many armies in the field, Ihave not seen more excellent work done on the actual field of battle by surgeons. Nothing was wanting. The latest improvements in antiseptic lint, in the sterilising of the instruments, were there, right on the field of battle. The Red Cross boxes were filled with .the latest necessaries for the treatment of the wounded. Each man who wastreated had his name checked, and a little tag with his name and the nature of his wound tied to one of his legs, and then he was forwarded to the field hospital. And all this was done under circumstances the most trying for delicate surgical work. Shells from the great Eastern Fort on Golden Mount wereburstingin ourvicinity,though whyso muchgood ammunition was wastedno one could tell. Many of the stretcherbearers had to pause from their work and seek cover behind the walls of the houses, but the doctors calmly went on. One horse, belonging to a doctor,standing just outside the little garden of whichIhave been speaking,had its neck broken by a fragment ofshell, and lay tbere welteringin its blood, with the rest of the wounded lying about on the street. Speaking By ten o'clock the three battalions of the 24th Regiment (sturdy fighting men from the southern islandof Kiu-shiu, whichboasts thatit has produced more of the heroes of Japan than any other district) were massed at the base of the ridge and began to climb the slope. At first they wereprotected by the very steepness of the hillside, but about half-way they came under fire from the sorts at arange of 600 yards. There was a temporary check at this point, and then the regiment went on again. An English officer who watched this assault of the Two Dragons and Cock's Comb forts thus described the scene :— -"We reached a hill to which the Japanese artillery were moving, just in time to watch a